You can’t beat a good bowl of Irish stew and if you top it with crusted dumplings it’s the ultimate comfort food. I find myself adding seaweed to all lamb dishes as it really enhances the flavour and offers all those nutrients.

Method

1 Start off by drying the pieces of meat on kitchen paper, trim away any excess fat, cut the fillets into 1 1/2 - inch (4cm) rounds, then dip them along with the cutlets into the seasoned flour. Now arrange a layer of meat in the base of the casserole, followed by a layer of onion, carrot, leek and potato, and a good seasoning of salt and pepper. Then add some more meat and continue layering the ingredients until everything is in.

2. Next sprinkle in the barley and pour in approximately 2 pints of hot water and bring it to a simmering point. Spoon off any scum that comes to the surface, cover with a well-fitting lid and leave it to simmer on the lowest heat for two hours.

3. About 15 minutes before the end of cooking, pre-heat the oven to 200C, then make the dumplings. Rub the butter into the flour add the seaweed and parsley with a good seasoning of salt and pepper. Now add sufficient cold water to make a fairly stiff but elastic dough that leaves the bowl clean. Knead it lightly, then shape into 12 dumplings.

4. When the stew is ready, remove the lid, place the dumplings all over the surface, then transfer the casserole to the highest shelf of the oven (without a lid) and leave for 30 minutes or until the dumplings are golden brown and crusty. Serve the meat surrounding the vegetables and dumplings with some of the liquid poured over and some in a gravy boat, and sprinkle with chopped fresh parsley.